The leakage of proprietary and/or confidential data is a continuing problem especially as unauthorized parties or criminals have begun using new techniques to eavesdrop on information entered into computing devices by users. For example, some attacks on mobile and other connected computing devices rely on the fact that devices move from location to location and wirelessly communicate with various networks and other devices.
New attacks using signal interference, such as Wi-Fi™ interference, are threatening users and their data. Attackers can watch the variances in Wi-Fi™ signal strength emitted from a computing device and use the variances to reconstruct the physical location of a user's fingers on a touch screen, keypad, or other input device. The attackers can use this information to detect a user's location as well as steal keystrokes, which may include passwords, as a user enters them.
Very few solutions have been proposed to defeat such interference-based hacks. Some researchers have suggested randomizing the location of keys on a virtual keyboard or keypad; however, this would cause confusion and frustration to the user. Accordingly, there are no satisfactory mechanisms to protect against such attacks.
It would be desirable to address these issues.